The invention relates to cleaning implements in general, and more particularly to improvements in mops and similar hand-held cleaning implements wherein a mop head is mounted at one end of a handle and carries strings and/or otherwise configurated sweeping portions which come in actual contact with the surface to be cleaned, dried, rubbed, coated, moistened and/or otherwise treated.
It is already known to provide the head of a mop with a detachable sweeping and/or wiping portion which can be separated from the mop head from time to time for the purpose of cleaning or replacement. A press or an analogous mop wringing device is used to expel impurities from the detached portion of the mop. It is further known to employ a composite mop head whose sections are movable relative to each other. The sweeping portion is secured to the marginal portions of the sections so that it can be partially detached preparatory to cleaning. Thus, when the sections of the mop head are held in their normal or operative positions, the sweeping portion is attached all the way along their marginal portions and constitutes or resembles a flat pad which is ready for use as a means for sweeping, wetting, drying and/or similarly treating a selected surface. In order to facilitate its cleaning, the sweeping portion or pad is partially detached from the sections of the mop head so that, when the sections are collapsed, the non-attached part of the sweeping portion forms a loop which extends from the collapsed sections and is ready to be relieved of accumulated impurities by immersing it in a body of water or another cleaning fluid or by introducing it into a suitable press forming part of a mop wringer.
A drawback of such conventional cleaning implements is that the sweeping portion must be touched by hands in order to separate it from the mop head, either entirely or in part. This is particularly undesirable when the sweeping portion has gathered aggressive solid and/or liquid substances which come in contact with and can cause injury or irritation to the skin. Moreover, and if the sweeping portion is to be detached while it dips, or is about to dip, into a bucket, the operator must bend in order to manipulate the sweeping portion at a level close to the floor. Repeated bending is tiresome, even to a young person, so that such types of cleaning implements have failed to gain widespread acceptance in the relevant industries. Similar problems are encountered when the partially or fully separated sweeping portion of the mop must be introduced into or removed from a press, i.e., the sweeping portion must be manipulated by hand and the hand of a clumsy, careless, unskilled or infirm operator is likely to be injured during introduction of the partly or fully detached sweeping portion into a mop wringer which employs a press.